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"W-who are you?” Kirei finally asked, making the Servant turn to him before grinning. "Arsène Lupin the Third. Just an unorthodox thief."

The King of Knights vs. The Emperor of Thieves! Who will win?

Just an Unorthodox Thief is a Fate/Zero and Lupin the Third crossover by The Infamous Man, the same author behind Fate:Zero Sense and A Different Kind of Truth. It uses the familiar concept of someone summoning a Servant from another series—this time, Kirei Kotomine has accidentally summoned Lupin the Third as Assassin. How will this affect the Fourth Grail War? Read it here, and find out.

For those unfamiliar with the Fate franchise, seven Heroic Spirits are summoned from the Throne of Heroes, a resting place residing outside of time and space that is reserved for those brave men and women whose deeds have become legends, and are now venerated as eternal guardians of mankind, to fight as Servants in the Holy Grail War. However, being a "hero" isn't strictly required, as some of the summoners discover in this story. Lupin has been dead for ten years. Most of the Lupin cast members have been forced to move on after his death. Some have handled it better than others, whereas some still long for the glory days when their friend/enemy/rival was among the living.

For those unfamiliar with the Lupin franchise, Lupin III is the grandson of the original Gentleman Thief, titular Frenchman Arsène Lupin. Lupin Sr was intelligent, fast, and powerful enough to rival Sherlock Holmes. The grandson is less classy, but even more dangerous. He is normally accompanied by three friends, but this work downplays their influence. He is, however, still chased by a policeman who has dedicated his life to tracking down Lupin, and has collected an impressive arrest record by catching the criminals Lupin has competed with—criminals like the mages Lupin has been summoned to fight. With the power that comes from being a "Heroic Spirit", Lupin seems to be getting even more incredible.

This fic has examples of:

Abnormal Ammo: Lupin frequently uses ammunition for his weapons that has unique properties, such as exploding bullets and glue rockets.

Agony of the Feet: While dueling with Saber, Assassin winds up impaling his foot after stepping on a piece of his ''own' broken weapon. Cue him comically jumping around on his good foot while trying to remove the offending part. Saber has a rather difficult time keeping a straight face at this.

Kariya begs Assassin to kidnap Sakura from Zouken, because of the physical and mental torture Sakura is facing.

Kirei begs his father, Risei, to give Sakura treatment and protection after he and Assassin kidnap her from Zouken.

Always Gets His Man: Zenigata, with the exception of Lupin and his gang, always catches the criminals he chases.

An Arm and a Leg: Waver loses his left arm when protecting Taiga from a bullet that Kiritsugu fired that was meant for him.

Anachronism Stew: During Kiritsugu's flashback to when he first met Lupin, it is mentioned that he and Natalia have two Jericho 941 handguns and a Calico M950 among their weaponry for the job. These two weapons were not available during the time the flashback takes place (1976).

And the Adventure Continues: The Distant Finale ends with Lupin declaring their next stop while he, Kirei, and their daughters ride off into the sunset and Zenigata and various others chase after him.

And Then What?: Zenigata had no idea what to do after Lupin's death. Supported by Lupin canon.

Antagonist in Mourning: The Heroic variety. Zenigata eventually lost his drive to catch criminals after Lupin's death, leading to his retirement. Also happens in Lupin canon.

Anti-Hero: Assassin may be a straight-up thief but he's too noble to be a Villain Protagonist. Though, he does have a bit more ruthlessness than his "lighter" self from the second anime series.

Appeal to Audacity: This is how Lupin convinces Jigen that he's telling the truth about magic. It also helps that the gang went through all sorts of supernatural shenanigans during their time together.

Arch-Enemy: Archer HATES Assassin because he stole some of his treasures/Noble Phantasms. Assassin is the only person Archer is actually motivated to kill.

Armor-Piercing Question: When Assassin questions Kirei about his not being upset at seeing Caster's sadism, he asks how Kirei would feel if Caster had captured his daughter. This question makes Kirei so angry that he orders Assassin to shut up.

Daisuke Akimi from Kara no Kyoukai. In canon he just existed to give Mikiya leads. Here he's Zenigata's lancer and right-hand man and is a competent detective in his own right.

Risei gets in on the act as well. He steps into the plot a lot more as his faith in Tokiomi wanes and he decides to more discreetly back Kirei and Assassin while growing into a three-dimensional character.

Assassin's power set is built around this. His EX-Rank Eye For Art allows him to identify a Noble Phantasm (and from that, the identity of the Servant using it) just by looking at it for a few seconds. In addition to that, his A-Rank Discernment of the Poor allows him to psychoanalyze anyone instantly, allowing him to know their mental strengths and weaknesses.

Lancer, as well: he is able to figure out Assassin's tricks and Noble Phantasms after only seeing them once. Of course, Assassin has many, many, many more tricks and tools at his disposal.

Zenigata is another example. He figures out that Lupin/Assassin is inside the sewers thanks to a cigarette butt that was put out outside the entrance. The cigarettes are Gitanes, a brand from France and Lupin's favorite brand, and who else other than Lupin would smoke cigarettes imported from France in Japan?

Bad Liar: Tokiomi is certainly this after his second interview with Zenigata and Daisuke. On everything from Sakura to his connection to the Einzberns and Matous, he fails to provide a decent explanation or excuse.

Bash Brothers: Kirei and Assassin finally become this when they work together to kill Zouken in the Fifthteenth Heist.

Jigen displays his incredible driving skills when fleeing from mobsters.

Badass Grandpa: Zenigata may be past sixty, but that just shows how damn good he is since he can still compete with the new and improved, superhuman Lupin. The same could be said about a now-aged Jigen and Goemon.

Zenigata surprisingly has one: Lupin being accused of crimes that do not fit his M.O. Lupin may be a thief, but he's not a sociopath in Zenigata's eyes.

Big Bad: After outwitting or defeating the more morally reprehensible or Jerkass antagonists Assassin himself takes the role of the Big Bad. Getting Saber and Rider to fight to the death, killing Irisviel to prep the Grail, and his manipulations to turn Saber into a Worthy Opponent are treated as selfish and villainous with Saber opposing him as a Hero Antagonist.

Tokiomi is convinced that Lupin’s calling card giveaway at the end of the Second Heist has caused this. Risei calms him down by stating that A) as Lupin has been confirmed dead for over a decade, the public would probably think it's the work of a copycat and B) the Grail War has been so well guarded that most Muggles wouldn't realize the significance of its mention.

Later, Zenigata and Daisuke, already on the trail of the magic stuff, witness undeniably supernatural phenomena over spy cameras.

Bulletproof Human Shield: Subverted: Kirei uses an enemy as a shield against gunfire, but she's so thin that the bullets still hit him.

The Bully: As Assassin points out, this is all Zouken is at the end of the day. This is why he's a Big Bad Wannabe.

The Bus Came Back: After many chapters of being pushed to the side, Waver and Rider return and become the focus of the chapter titled The Kid Called Waver.

Byronic Hero: Kiritsugu as always. But an entire chapter aptly titled "The Killer Called Kiritsugu" is dedicated to showing how broken Kiritsugu is inside.

Daisuke Akimi, a mundane cop from Kara no Kyoukai. He's more of a Canon Immigrant now because of The Nasuverse, and due to becoming a regular supporting character as Zenigata's partner.

Mayu (and company) from Elfen Lied. Goemon retired from thieving and became a bushido instructor in Kamakura, watching over Mayu in particular as a surrogate father. TIM says this was done purely as a Shout-Out to the series.

Riko Mine, a.k.a. Lupin the IV, from Aria the Scarlet Ammo. She was conceived the night before Lupin's death. At the end she runs away from home to live with her father as a thief, and she has a significant role in the epilogue, so she's no longer a cameo at that point.

Shirou, who gives Zenigata the lead he needs to track down Ryuunosuke.

Taiga's grandfather is mentioned as one of Lupin's contacts and shows up in one scene before he's killed.

A flashback shows Kiritsugu and the police chasing a still-alive Lupin III.

Lupin and Kirei get in several car chases with Zenigata and the Fuyuki police during the Holy Grail War.

Jigen gets into a Chase Fight (see below).

The epilogue goes out on a car chase.

The Casanova: Lupin LOVES the ladies, and can charm almost anyone with the right lines, the only exceptions being Fujiko and Saber. (Though, he doesn't really try with Saber due to the fact that her body does not suit his tastes.)

Cassandra Truth: Lupin once told Zenigata that a cube confiscated from him would make the vault go boom. Zenigata refused to believe him and tossed the cube over his shoulder...

The Cavalry Arrives Late: Zenigata and the police show up just in time to arrest Ryuunosuke, after Lupin and Saber have killed Caster. In this case, it's lucky they did arrive late; otherwise, they would have been slaughtered by Caster.

To protect Lupin from his father, Kirei claims that Lupin was acting on his orders in killing Caster. He is also surprised that he felt joy when he thought about sinners being punished for their crimes. At the climax, he reflects on how different he is from the man he was before meeting Assassin, including the fact that he has just saved someone's life when even a few days earlier he would have left them to die. (It's purely a self-serving gesture; his interests are what have changed.)

Lupin is revealed to have been a lot darker before teaming up with the others, softening over time.

Saber gradually lets go of her ideals throughout the course of the war. She takes her first step when she defeats Caster using what she considers dishonorable methods, forsaking her chivalry for a greater good. Later on, Lupin forces her to take a hard look at herself when they argue about her wish. She then falls prey to a Fantastic Drug (see below), faces her demons during her trip, and comes out of it with a changed philosophy and not chained down by her chivalrous ideals. By the end of the war, she's willing to do whatever she has to in order to get the Holy Grail, even strike her opponents from behind, or strangle them to death.

Chained to a Bed: Fujiko Mine's parting gift to Lupin after their night together.

Chase Fight: Jigen has a shootout with mobsters while trying to drive away to safety.

Chekhov's Gun: Remember how Lupin stole Gae Buidhe back in chapter 5? Over twenty chapters later, it's revealed what he did with it.

The leader of the Owls of Minerva, the Count, has plans for the course of the war. They have tabs on the various masters and Servants, substances that can affect even Servants, and a wide net of operatives all poised to manipulate future events. Kiritsugu believes that Lupin is one of these, as well.

Lupin. Though he feels bad about it, he delays Sakura's rescue to follow his plan. Risei actually thinks that Assassin's every flight of fancy is a carefully calculated move contributing to his overall victory. It's unknown if this is true, but the Laughing Peacock heist has made Assassin too well protected for Tokiomi to order his death.

If Lupin can use something to gain an advantage in a fight, he'll use it immediately with few exceptions. Some examples include attacking Masters, stealing the weapons of Servants, blinding enemies, etc. Saber even does this once to bring down Caster's guard in order to kill him. Kiritsugu is another, extreme example.

Composite Character: Lupin is this of himself. He has the manga version's Chessmaster abilities, his The Woman Called Fujiko Mine and first anime version's charisma, skill, and a bit of their ruthless side, and his Second Series version's morals... which actually makes a lot of sense, since Heroic Spirits are idealized versions of their original selves. It makes perfect sense that the Servant Assassin has all of Heroic Spirit Lupin III's best attributes.

Conservation of Ninjutsu: Downplayed. When Saber takes on Rider's army in his reality marble, she notes that she can kill hundreds or maybe thousands of them, but their numbers will eventually overwhelm her. What little conservation of ninjutsu there is in the fight is justified by Saber being a top-tier Servant against much lower-ranked Servants and by her experience fighting these kinds of battles in life and growing up in the Dark Ages.

Continuity Nod: Various Lupin series episodes, movies, and even a bit of the original manga by Monkey Punch are mentioned throughout the fic.

On the other hand, this is inverted with Kirei. See Smiting Evil Feels Good below.

Costume Copycat: Thanks to his notoriety, people have begun wearing outfits and hairstyles similar to Lupin's. This justifies his use of a Paper-Thin Disguise: he looks like one of the people copying him.

Crash-Into Hello: How Lupin reunites with Fujiko Mine and how he first meets his daughter.

Zenigata also counts. In the case of the Laughing Peacock, he attempts to use guards, surveillance equipment, himself, and even a tracking device to stop Lupin. He still fails, but points for effort! Humorously, we find out that he keeps a pair of handcuffs under his pillow just in case Lupin enters his bedroom!

Maiya muses to herself about Kiritsugu's Crazy Preparedness after Kiritsugu explains Lupin's tactics for creating a body to believably fake his death and admits that if he had the resources, it's more-or-less exactly how he would do it.

How Archer kills Lancer. He's so serious about killing Assassin that he demands that Lancer leave and kills him when he refuses, all without so much as a taunt or glance.

The "Fifteenth Heist". Kirei's ruthless, No-Holds-Barred Beatdown of Zouken when the latter comes to the church to try and take Sakura back. Kirei holds nothing back and turns the elder Matou into little more than a bloody smear on the pavement, before completely obliterating his soul. Justified, in that giving him no chance to recover kept him from dispersing into Crest Worms and escaping, and completely awesome and satisfying to behold.

Kirei:Kyrie Eleison.

Cut Lex Luthor a Check: Averted. The first thing Lupin does after stealing Archer's Noble Phantasms is sell them for extra cash.

Dare to Be Badass: Lupin does this to Kirei in an effort to get him to be true to himself and find his own place in the world outside of what others expect of him.

Dark Reprise/Soundtrack Dissonance: TIM gives every major scene a song from Lupin III. During a flashback episode with a chase between Lupin and Kiritsugu TIM says that Kiritsugu's theme is a song called Super Hero, which becomes this if you compare Kiritsugu's and Lupin's view points. The song basically boils down to a "Lupin is Cool" song with lines like "Scream for me, a romantic modern hero" and "Everyone wishes they could be like me." It fits Lupin perfectly as he effortlessly outfoxes two of the world's greatest assassins while saving an innocent life, but from Kiritsugu's angle it becomes a Sarcastic Echo as the lyrics mock him by basically being what he wants a Hero of Justice to be, and in a way, what he wants to be, all while basically saying that a common thief is a better superhero than he is. The song really becomes rather sad if you listen to it and make it Kiritsugu's theme instead of Lupin's.

Dead Man Walking: Kariya admits that he is one of these thanks to the worms in his system.

Dead Person Impersonation: When two mobsters are sent by Pycal to kill Assassin, he and Kirei kill them and take on their appearances and identities in order to hide and get even.

Raiga Fujimura is killed by Pycal while trying to negotiate for Taiga's release.

Come Chapter 39, Kiritsugu doesn't survive either.

Death by Irony: Emiya Kiritsugu, the gun using Magus Killer and assassin, is killed by an assassin with a gun.

Defeat by Modesty: Goemon cuts off the clothes of police officers, forcing them to run away as a result.

Destroy the Evidence: The entire Owls of Minerva hideout was rigged with incendiary explosives to prevent information from falling into enemy hands.

The Devil Is a Loser: Although Zouken isn't Old Scratch (and doesn't have Angra Mainyu under his control), he pretty much hits all the marks, showing how much of a loser he really is as Assassin and Kirei awesomely ruin his life.

Didn't Think This Through: Zenigata takes personal satisfaction in pointing out to the bank manager that any sort of challenge to Lupin in regards to this thieving skills will be accepted.

Didn't See That Coming: Zouken supposedly had the perfect plan to deal with Assassin; too bad he underestimated those muggle policemen. Zouken does this again by somehow forgetting about Assassin's Master, Kirei the Executioner while talking to Assassin.

Dirty Cop: The Fuyuki Police Department Chief is one. He is paid by Tokiomi to conceal evidence of magi, transfers Byakuya Matou before he can be interrogated by Zenigata, and is overheard implying that he lent SWAT vans to Russian mobsters to help them facilitate a kidnapping.

Distant Finale: The epilogue is set twelve years after the fourth Holy Grail War, telling us how Rin, Sakura, Taiga, Lupin, Kirei, Lupin's and Kirei's daughters, Saber, Zenigata, and Akimi Daisuke (Zenigata's partner during the Grail War) have moved forward with their lives after the events of the main story.

The Dog Bites Back: A mild version. Tokiomi treating Risei like a servant causes Risei to chew him out.

Lupin and Saber steal the clothes of two SWAT officers to escape the police. However, Zenigata sees right through them. Also mixes with Spotting the Thread, as Lupin's use of slang and the ill-fitting uniform on Saber give them away to Zenigata.

Assassin and Kirei infiltrate the warehouse where Jigen and Taiga are being held by disguising themselves as guards, including fake faces.

Lupin takes great pleasure in the shocked looks on Jigen and Goemon's faces when he admits that he's finally managed to bed Fujiko.

Dude, Where's My Respect?: Due to constantly failing to get Lupin, Zenigata can't catch a break with his fellow cops in the Fuyuki police department. It gradually goes away thanks to his string of closed cases while working with them.

Dying Curse: Angra Mainyu gives a whammy of a curse to Saber after she rejects and destroys it, damning her to eternal life until a member of the Lupin bloodline kills her as well as changing her body to be similar in appearance to Irisviel's and making her feel every type of pain imaginable.

Emergency Broadcast: Zenigata, on Lupin's advice, has the police go around and evacuate the city before the final night of the Holy Grail War.

Empowered Badass Normal: Jigen at one point uses sniper rounds Assassin gave him that were smelted from Lancer's Noble Phantasm in order to kill Gilgamesh.

Enemy Mine: Assassin/Lupin convinces Saber to work together with him long enough to kill Caster. Kariya also seeks him for an alliance shortly after the first one dissolves.

Entertainingly Wrong: Tokiomi assumes that Risei’s wariness around Lupin is due to the fact that the latter has successfully managed to rob the Church. It’s actually because Risei knows that Tokiomi is exactly the kind of guy whom Lupin loves to rob blind.

Lupin may be a thief, but even he hates Caster's cruelty. Kiritsugu also points out the fact that the women Lupin supposedly "raped" (in reference to the implications in the manga that Lupin is a rapist) were simply lying to cover their own skins.

Count Luis Yu Almeida was considered so fucked up that the Nazis kicked him out due to moral disgust.

Jigen reflects on how Lupin in the past would use everything and everyone to win whereas Jigen, himself, could not.

Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: This is Zouken's biggest weakness. He can't see anyone but as selfish, petty, and monstrous as himself, leading to him not realizing that having a 0% Approval Rating will lead to anyone having a shred of decency wanting him dead, rules be damned.

Pycal does this all the time. However when doing this to Assassin and Kirei, they use this to their advantage and just try to kill him.

Kirei admits to Kiristugu that he shouldn't make a speech during a fight, but decides to do it anyway.

The Count does this with Lupin and Saber, mixed with a Motive Rant.

Evil Is Petty: Assassin points out that this is all Zouken is during an awesome "The Reason You Suck" Speech. He points out that underneath all of Zouken's monstrousness is a bully who can only lord his power over people weaker than him and the only reason why he does the horrible things he does is because he knows that it is all he can do other than die.

The Count seems to be a callback of classic James Bond villains, as were most of the villains in the Lupin III franchise.

The Owls of Minerva, themselves, are slight references to the Batman villains "The Court of Owls". Some of their henchmen are similar to the Court's henchmen, the Talons.

Daniel Gump, the man Lupin and the gang steal from during Lupin's last heist in life, is based on Donald Trump.

The two Yakuza members at the docks in Chapter 25 are based on Jules and Vincent from Pulp Fiction.

Extended Disarming: Played for Laughs. Lupin has a lot of hiding places for his gadgets, and Zenigata knows most, if not all, of them, as he proves when he starts disarming an apparently caught Lupin. Among other things, Lupin's hairpiece has a lit bomb under it and one of his wrists has all the parts needed to build a small radio under the flap of fake skin.

Eyepatch After Time Skip: Goemon is wearing an eyepatch when we finally see him. It later gets explained during the flashback to the day Lupin died.

Lupin's is that despite all his tricks and plans, he has very little actual fighting ability, or at least is severely outclassed by the other Servants. If an opponent can power through his traps and ignore his mind-games, he's pretty much helpless. When Saber is able to do just that, she doesn't even need Excalibur and simply pummels him with her bare hands, and likely would have finished him for good had Kiritsugu not intervened.

Fight Scene: Various battles occur throughout the story: Servant vs. Servant, master vs. master, and Servant and/or master vs. third party. Also, the epilogue contains a few fight scenes between Lupin's new team and the groups trying to stop them.

For Want of a Nail: Lupin's presence and actions turn Fate/Zero canon upside down. New alliances and rivalries arise, Servants are defeated in different order and in different manner, static characters like Saber and Archer get actual character development, and Kirei's character takes a turn for the better.

Friendly Enemy: Assassin and Zenigeta's relationship is this. Saber and Kirei are baffled by the concept.

Fusion Fic: In this story's continuity — and in a major contrast to most Fate crossovers — Lupin III was an infamous thief in the Nasuverse and all of his exploits are very well known. Some characters from Fate/Zero actually met him before his death. Later on, Waver surmises that minor Lupin villain Pycal comes from an old magus family of the same name, which pretty much got wiped out by the Einzberns during World War II.

Gambit Pileup: Lupin and the Owls of Minerva are the main Chessmasters in this fic, though every other Master/Servant pair have plans of their own.

Genre Savvy: Assassin is onto Angra Mainyu's true nature from the beginning. He repeatedly tells it to cut the bullshit and does a better job of defending his argument than Saber does.

Genre Throwback: Of '70s anime/manga and partially of spy thrillers like James Bond, right down to the idealism and fun while also retaining its own sense of moral ambiguity.

Gentleman Thief: Lupin III is proud to be one. He's a bit more sadistic than the usual ones though.

Gun Stripping: In Chapter 9 (Eighth Heist), Assassin is cleaning his gun while reviewing the previous night's heist with his Master. He also does this in the end of Chapter 36 (Twenty-Sixth Heist) before putting it back together.

Gut Feeling: How Fujiko realizes that Lupin is, well, Lupin. Which leads to this gem:

Healing Factor: Thanks to stealing Avalon from Irisviel, Assassin has this during his fight with Saber in Chapter 39.

The Heavy: Assassin is a rare protagonist version of this trope. Every change of the plot has been caused by him and almost every character has been reacting to his actions.

Hero Antagonist: Zenigata and Risei are regularly shown to be truly good and moral people who seek to do the right thing. Saber becomes a Hero Antagonist as well when Assassin becomes the Big Bad.

Hero of Another Story: Zenigata is this to Lupin, investigating the troubles of Fuyuki City as Lupin fights in the Grail War and they occasionally cross paths.

Hidden Depths: Several characters show that there is much more going inside than what they show.

Assassin/Lupin, despite being a generally goofy Gentleman Thief, shows he has a sense of nihilism towards life and the world in general. He oftentimes states that he believes the past and the future don't matter. He even seems willing to do morally unscrupulous things for the sake of his own goals. His shooting of Irisviel is done to get access to the Grail. The victim is in agony at the time, but it's still not a Mercy Kill because Lupin's about to shoot anyway when he notices this.

Higher Understanding Through Drugs: Saber accidentally ingests an airborne Fantastic Drug that causes her to hallucinate. By the time she awakens, she has become able to see the world around her in a new way, the same way as Assassin sees it.

Saber takes her pride and integrity as a king and a knight seriously. However, in the case of letting Caster live for another night to kill more innocent children, she decides it is necessary to let go of her honor in order to save them.

Humans Are Bastards: Being a conceptual existence representing All the Evils of the World, Angra Mainyu sees humans this way, and it invokes this in the visions it gives Assassin and Saber of their respective deepest desires being fulfilled. Assassin lampshades this, and the two of them argue about it for a bit.

Humiliation Conga: Tokiomi goes through this, between losing his Servant Archer, getting eliminated from the Holy Grail War, having all of his money stolen by Lupin, and receiving threatening phone calls from people who believe that he sold Sakura into sexual slavery to the Matous.

Hyperspace Arsenal: Assassin's "Tools of the Trade" Noble Phantasm gives him access to any item which he requires to complete a "heist." These range from the mundane (grappling hooks) to the exotic (rockets, fake limbs) to the why-would-you-even-have-that? (A replica of the Laughing Peacock with its head replaced by his own, an inflatable Lupin balloon the size of a building.)

Saber condemns the Lupin III cosplayers who get plastic surgery to look more like him:

Completely ignoring the life they had been given for an opportunity to be someone else? It was worse than trying to escape reality. It was obsession to an unhealthy degree.

She's not wrong about the cosplayers, but from Fate/stay night we know that this wording describes Saber's motivation for winning the Holy Grail pretty well. She wants to use the Holy Grail to erase her rule as King Arthur by choosing not to pull the sword from the stone, ignoring all the good she did as king and trying to become someone else.

Lupin rejects Riko's request to go adventuring with him and asks her to lead a normal life. He soon after realizes he's being hypocritical considering he's all about people being able to do whatever they want to do.

I Am Not My Father: Inverted. Lupin's daughter Riko and Kirei's daughter Caren want to be just like their fathers, despite their fathers being "bad" men.

I Just Want to Be Normal: At its core, Saber's true wish is to have a normal life instead of feeling trapped by fate to be an ideal king.

Lupin tells Saber that he could have easily poisoned her drink when she wasn't looking, leading to a very painful death for her, if he were taking things seriously.

Lupin pulls this on Kiritsugu to get his point across that he does not like his fun tampered with, much less his friends threatened, and he is keeping him alive ONLY because he wants to completely defeat Saber and steal the Grail.

Ignored Expert: Risei Kotomine. To his credit, he knows better than to underestimate Asassin because Lupin stole from the Church numerous times, including the Papal Tiara within a day of his calling card and escaping the Executioners guarding there. Tokiomi brushes the concerns aside, but when Assassin not only survives Archer but delivers calling cards all over Fuyuki about winning the Grail, Risei all but says, "I told you so."

Kirei stabs Kiritsugu with several black keys; overlaps with Pinned to the Wall below.

Saber runs Excalibur through one opponent and into another with one strike.

Kirei impales seceral Owl Men with black keys off-screen.

Implausible Fencing Powers: Goemon can safely cut clothes off of people and can cut right through a suspension bridge. In the epilogue, Saber, who has been trained by Goemon in the art of the sword and has her own special blade, supposedly can cut anything she believes she can just from wind pressure.

Impossible Thief: Lupin is already this in canon, but as a Servant it's brought Up to Eleven. Why? He can steal Noble Phantasms, including Archer's, which would normally be impossible due to his power to recall them at will (the theft blocks this power).

Improbable Aiming Skills: Jigen displays them during the Chase Fight. Not only does he fire at the cars behind him and kill his targets almost without looking, he shoots out the bolts holding up an overhead traffic light so that it falls on one of the cars chasing him, all of this while driving at high speed.

Improvised Weapon: Zenigata can use his handcuffs in many ways, including using them as bolas to catch his target.

Saber attacks Assassin from behind when he's the only thing between her and the Holy Grail, though he manages to turn around and takes the slash from the front. Immediately after, he shoots her from behind. When he picks up Excalibur and laments about killing Irisviel, in desperation she picks up the gun and shoots him five times in the back.

Archer, the character who in all of fiction is famous for his Aesop Amnesia, learns from his mistakes. Of course, he instead makes new ones.

Tokiomi is a man who prides himself in his ability to control any situation. Every member of his faction either is a Dragon with an Agenda, is The Starscream, or has gone behind his back in some way. This includes Risei, who in canon is Tokiomi's Yes-Man.

Leeroy Jenkins: Averted by Zenigata due to him being Older and Wiser. He even lampshades his lack of this during the search of Kariya's apartment, that a younger him would have stormed in without thinking about it, warrant or not.

Legacy Character: Invoked In-Universe, where the various Lupin copycats who sprang up after the original's death held a competition to see which one of them deserved to hold the title of "Lupin the Third."

Life-or-Limb Decision: Lancer has a minor example of this where he slices at his own feet to escape being immolated by Assassin's fire chemicals. Lupin lets himself gets impaled in his hands to prevent a killing blow to his chest.

Lovable Coward: Waver Velvet is still this, constantly complaining and demanding to go back whenever Rider drags him off somewhere yet still going along with it.

Love Makes You Dumb: Kayneth loves his fiancé Sola. When she goads him into attacking an enemy who outclasses him, he doesn't realize this nor that the woman in front of him is an imposter because he's blinded by the desire to impress her. It almost makes Kayneth sympathetic.

Manipulative Bastard: Don't let Assassin's charm fool you. Although he has standards, he will twist your emotions around to get what he wants if he deems it necessary. This is best shown when he manipulates Saber's inner goodness to make her abandon her Chivalry in order to kill Caster.

Mugged for Disguise: Lupin ties up and gags Sola-Ui and steals her clothes in order to impersonate her.

Murder Is the Best Solution: Kirei is ready to kill the police officer inspecting his truck if the officer sees Assassin, whom he's looking for. Fortunately, Assassin takes care of it with an optical illusion.

Kayneth definitely has this attitude, constantly blaming Lancer for any and all failures.

To a lesser extent, Tokiomi. He refuses to believe that he caused his own downfall.

Nice Job Fixing It, Villain!: The Owls decision to use Kayneth as a hostage proved to be a fatal mistake. They allowed Kayneth to go back to his native element of politics, and he quickly employs his connections and resources to wipe out the people in the Clock Tower that are on the Owls payroll.

Nazi Nobleman: Count Luis Yu Almeida used to be one while he was alive, but got kicked out because everyone else thought he was a sick and twisted monster.

No-Nonsense Nemesis: Archer becomes one through character development, which is rather scary considering it disables his (initial) Fatal Flaw.

Noble Demon: Assassin, a.k.a. Lupin III, is a world-renowned criminal with his own moral code, particularly concerning rape and the safety of women and children.

No Challenge Equals No Satisfaction: Waver and Rider hadn't been in that many fights. Because of this, Waver isn't exactly thrilled that he's one of the last Masters of the war yet he contributed absolutely nothing to his position.

Not So Above It All: Daisuke gradually takes to calling the "copycat" Lupin as well, despite not believing him to be the real deal.

Lupin, despite seeming like an idiot, is actually a very skilled tactician and can use any tool to his advantage. He is also very capable of stating his intentions of killing someone with a happy grin.

Zouken is completely aware that the Owls of Minerva are spying on him and that Assassin is targeting him.

An Offer You Can't Refuse: Kotomine Risei makes an offer to Inspector Zenigata: either he continues chasing Lupin under the Church and doesn't try to reveal magecraft to the world, or he, his daughter, his grandson, and anyone they've ever loved will be killed.

Kirei freaks out a bit when he fails to understand why he's acting the way he is now. It takes an explosion at his apartment to snap him out of it.

A more common one is when Assassin stops smirking. When he does that, all Hell is about to break loose.

When Saber decides to forgo fighting fairly, she becomes ten times more dangerous.

The grimly serious tone of the normally jovial Lupin when he warns Zenigata away from trying to reveal magi to the world convinces Zenigata to back off, and to evacuate the city at Lupin's suggestion.

Outfit Decoy: The Assassin half-hidden in shadows whom Kiritsugu has been talking with in a hospital room is actually a dummy wearing his suit and holding a lit cigarette and a well made fake gun. It's been moving using a simple pulley system and has a speaker that Assassin's been talking through.

Overshadowed by Awesome: Zenigata failing to catch Lupin during the Laughing Peacock heist leads to a lot of mockery and derision from the rookies/desk jocks of the Fuyuki police surrounding his inability to catch Lupin in the past. But Kirei's narration makes it clear Lupin could've made capturing him even more difficult. Lupin seems to be teaching him how to enjoy life on the edge.

Paper-Thin Disguise: Lupin only wears a fake mustache and glasses outside of a police station and doesn't get arrested. Justified to himself by the fact that a lot of people like to cosplay as him.

Police Are Useless: Averted. Many magi are caught blindsided with what the police can accomplish when someone competent (Zenigata) is leading them, one example in particular being Zouken. In fact, the reason the weirdness in Fuyuki wasn't being investigated is that the police chief was being paid off by the magical families to cover up any evidence found of magecraft.

Pooled Funds: Lupin would sometimes literally bathe in money back in the '60s, but it's hinted that he only did this when he was high.

Putting the Band Back Together: Inspector Zenigata comes out of retirement, and later on Jigen, Goemon, and Fujiko head to Fuyuki City. Subverted in the sense that Lupin's old gang has moved on since he died, with the only exceptions being Jigen, whom Lupin is getting one last favor from, and Zenigata, who is too stubborn to let Lupin go.

Pride: Lupin has full knowledge that he's the greatest thief that ever lived, and doesn't mind boasting it. Though, he's usually more subtle with boasting about his skills unless he really wants to rile up someone.

Properly Paranoid: Zenigata proves to be this in regards to keeping quiet about evidence that he gathers during the events of the Grail War, since revealing it would result in confiscation and Memory Manipulation to hide it away.

Reality Is Out to Lunch: Saber's Vision Quest involves a series of scenes where everything is in black-and-white, the floor and walls are made of words if they're present at all, people with visible faces have owl heads, and things spontaneously burst into butterflies.

"The Reason You Suck" Speech: Lupin/Assassin loves dishing these out to his enemies. They include Lancer on real chivalry and honor, a critique to Zouken who doesn't take losing control well, how the Count was hiding from his real intentions, and even Pycal on his delusions of grandeur. That said, Assassin's also the on the receiving end of Saber's internal monologue during their second duel.

Resigned to the Call: Sort of. Saber resents being fated to be the ideal king. She is shown a vision of herself living a normal life in the countryside with a family, and has the chance to make it real by wishing upon the Holy Grail. She realizes this is the first time she is truly free to make her own decision. She chooses to be a hero, and reject the Deal with the Devil.

The Reveal: The Count, leader of the Owls of Minerva, is Oscar, Zenigata's former lieutenant.

Revealing Cover-Up: Tokiomi's failure to convince the police causes Zenigata to get even more suspicious about the participants of the Grail War.

Sadist: In a similar vein to Fate/Zero, Kotomine Kirei is a budding sadist living in denial. Unlike Fate/Zero, Lupin is here to prevent Kirei from going full blown For the Evulz-mode and help him find enjoyment in (slightly) more moral ways. See Smiting Evil Feels Good below.

Say My Name: As per canon, Zenigata has a habit of yelling Lupin's name.

Secret Keeper: Jigen becomes one for Lupin regarding his resurrection and the Grail War.

Selective Obliviousness: It's pretty jarring how Risei's POV changes from a Savvy Badass Preacher to an easily dupable fool whenever Kirei is involved. It is his son, of course. As long as Risei doesn't really question Kirei's behaviour, he'll probably stay oblivious. (The poor priest still thinks the boy was in love with his wife!)

Shame If Something Happened: Risei regretfully tells Kirei and Assassin that he has no choice but to give Sakura back to Zouken if Zouken arrives at the church—keyword being arrive at the church. Risei will be perfectly happy to look the other way if something "unfortunate" happens to Zouken before he reaches the church.

The last two chapters all have hints from Part IV, from Lupin's blue jacket, the introduction of Agent Nyx, and Lupin deciding to marry Rebecca Rossellini.

Shut Up, Hannibal!: Before their battle Rider tries to criticize Saber's kingship and wish like in canon, but by this point in the fic Saber's heard it all before and just doesn't care. She tells Rider that she's long stopped caring what other people think of her life, which makes Rider begin to respect her.

Sidekick: Kirei is this to his own Servant, and unlike Waver, doesn't seem to realize it.

Played with in that Assassin doesn't see either of them in a Master-Servant relationship, but equal-standing partners.

Significant Wardrobe Shift: The story points out the many outfits Lupin's worn over the years throughout the series, and notes that they often come with a change in attitude. Naturally, Lupin changes into these outfits whenever the appropriate mood strikes him.

Slasher Smile: Assassin flashes one when he almost burns Lancer alive.

Small Name, Big Ego: Pycal turns out to be this. Assassin and his crew barely remember him and Zenigata has no idea who he is, yet he thinks he's Assassin's greatest foe.

Smart Ball: Risei shows an impressive spike in intelligence in this story. Usually he's the guy who effortlessly gets knifed. Here, he's one of the few people who don't underestimate Assassin and tends to be the one who fixes Tokiomi's plans when they go wrong.

Smiting Evil Feels Good: Played with regarding Kotomine Kirei. Since Kirei's summoning of the Assassin who was known as Lupin III, Lupin has been talking to Kirei about how he has fun being more important than why he has fun. Kirei considers himself a very sinful man, not a hero like the trope description expects, but Lupin is widely admired and impressive, partly for whom he targets. Lupin seems to be slowly teaching Kirei that imitating him will lead Kirei to an enjoyable lifestyle, as long as he would Pay Evil unto Evil. It doesn't matter if Kirei enjoys killing people, so long as the people he's killing are people who deserve to be killed.

Smug Smiler: Assassin is always described to have a cocky smirk on his face. When he's not, it's a sign that shit's about to go down.

The Social Expert: Assassin has an excellent understanding of the human mind and his "Discernment of the Poor" skill enhances this even further. Seeing as Fate/Zero is one big Dysfunction Junction, this is a great skill to have.

Someone to Remember Him By: Riko Mine was conceived the first (and only) time Lupin and Fujiko slept together on the eve of Lupin's death.

Spared by the Adaptation: Ryuunosuke, Kayneth and Tokiomi survive the war, but ultimately come off worse than they had been dead. Ryuunosuke was arrested and on death's row, and Tokiomi was also arrested for conspiracy and supposed trafficking charges that left his family name tarnished. The only one better off is Kayneth who came back a hero of the Holy Grail War, but is still miserable with his love life.

Spotting the Thread: Zenigata learns about Tokiomi having a second daughter when he spots a picture with a folded end and examines it. He also catches on to Assassin and Saber's disguises due to Assassin's use of slang and Saber's ill-fitting uniform.

Stealth Hi/Bye: Lupin shows up in a chair in Zenigata's office seemingly out of nowhere, then leaves equally mysteriously while Zenigata's back is turned. When he first shows up, Zenigata reveals he anticipated Lupin's tendency toward this and prepared a trap to capture him.

Stealth Mentor: Assassin seems to have something planned for Kirei, with him constantly asking Kirei seemingly innocent questions that always make Kirei question himself and what he wants.

Sympathetic Inspector Antagonist: The former Trope Namer has shown up, providing the audience with a Viewpoint Character among the non-mages, trying to work out what's going on in this town. He's still obsessed with catching Lupin, and has jailed one of the Masters, as well as Byakuya, when a lead on Sakura brings them to the Matou household.

Take a Third Option: Saber's two choices are forge a contract with the Count or forfeit the Holy Grail War due to lack of a master to keep her around. The timely arrival of servant-less Waver Velvet allows her to take a third option.

Taking the Bullet: Waver does this for Taiga, getting seriously wounded in the process.

The Unfettered: Arturia seems to have become this after a Fraulein Eule induced vision of all her failures. She kills all her old regrets, breaks the chains representing her guilt and responsibility, and decides to "view the world as Lupin the Third does" The first thing that she does after waking up? Pin Kiritsugu to a wall and threaten to kill him if he doesn't explain himself, before telling him that she's going to research Lupin at a bar in Miyama and if he interacts with her in any way besides summoning her for the battle with Assassin then she will either kill him or do everything she can to ensure that Lupin and Kotomine do.

Übermensch: Assassin lives by his own rules and no one else's. And although he has no real reason/wish to obtain the grail besides it being there, it turns out he wants everyone else to make their own rules as well, as seen in Kirei, Saber, and the grail's illusions.

Played straight by Kiritsugu in a flashback when he first met and therefore underestimated Lupin. As a teen working with Natalia, the two of them were given a job to kill a magus who had contracted Lupin for an artifact. They failed. He is trying to avoid making that mistake again.

Kayneth underestimates Kirei, and crosses a bit into Too Dumb to Live territory. Kayneth believes that hunting down Kotomine Kirei is a good idea. Given that Lancer is still missing Gae Buidhe and that Kirei was able to evenly fight Kiritsugu while impaired in canon... Sola-Ui even lampshades this later on.

The Owls of Minerva also have this attitude towards Lupin. Crosses over into Too Dumb to Live territory since they've clashed with him repeatedly when he was alive, so they really should know better.

Tokiomi joins the club, making the classic blunder of thinking Zenigata is an incompetent twit just because he can't catch Lupin.

Inverted. Originally all of the Servants were completely caught off guard by Lupin's antics, but by the second encounter they wise up to his tricks. Saber realizes that it's just smarter to roll with the insanity instead of fighting it, Lancer invokes It Only Works Once (see above), and Archer becomes a No-Nonsense Nemesis (see above).

Caster's another inverted version. After he sees Assassin defile "Jeanne", he is vehemently willing to go all out on him in their confrontations. But before he can summon his strongest monster in their last encounter, Saber acts as Jeanne long enough to leave an opening.

Justified for Zouken. Without the crest worms infesting Sakura, Zouken can't use her as a hostage, host, or plant, and Kariya's too far gone for the worms' removal to really matter. With Byakuya in jail and Shinji overseas, there's no one else around for Zouken to manipulate. The best he could do is run away on his own. .

Villainous Legacy: Count Luis Yu Almeida has been dead for years but his atrocities still cast a shadow over many characters and have set many tragedies into motion.

Vision Quest: Saber accidentally ingests an airborne Fantastic Drug that causes her to hallucinate. The hallucinations facilitate Armor-Piercing Questions and force her to address her regrets, guided by an owl posing as Mordred. She has a moment of revelation that changes her view of history and of the world around her.

Warts and All: Much like his other fic, A Different Kind of Truth, TIM does this to his main protagonist. Assassin is depicted as a nice guy who's generally goofy, but he's also a skilled manipulator and semi-sadistic thrill-seeker. Waver Velvet even says that Assassin might as well be an "ingenious yet hedonistic maniac," which is a far cry from the Lighter and Softer anime Lupin most people remember, and more in line with the Darker and Edgier original manga Lupin.

Weak, but Skilled: Assassin. His stats have Strength and Mana at very low rank compared to other Servants, but he compensates with great Agility and Endurance, outrageous Luck (further increased by the Noble Phantasm "Better Luck Next Time", which allows him to escape certain death), sheer skill, and a Noble Phantasm capable of stealing his foes' Noble Phantasms.

What You Are in the Dark: Saber has a chance to achieve her most desired wish: a normal life. The grail makes a convincing argument to make that wish, claiming that the fate of her people and Camelot would be essentially the same. Saber realizes this is the first and probably last time she can make a free choice, unburdened by outside influences. She refuses the grail's offer, strikes down the grail, and knows that she will likely never be recognized for doing this.

Worf Had the Flu: During Saber and Zenigata's alliance, Saber has to pretend to be a normal human, so she can't fight with her full power against the Eulen-Küken. Normally, the fight would have lasted two seconds.

Worth It: Getting involved in the Grail War, dying from having his body infested by worms, working with Lupin; Kariya was more than willing to go through all of this to save Sakura.

And when he succeeds in helping Lupin to kill Archer, Kariya doesn't even care that he's going to die anymore.

Kariya also has this attitude because he was able to not only save Sakura but screw over Tokiomi before his death.

Lupin and Zenigata as always. As a matter of fact, one of the few things that angers Lupin is people disrespecting Zenigata.

Lupin is also constantly pushing Saber to prove that she could be considered a worthy opponent to him, if for no other reason than to keep himself from becoming bored of the war. As of chapter 20, Saber is doing her own research on Lupin so she can be prepared when he finally does come for her, even calling him "Lupin" rather than "Assassin."

Assassin weaponizes this trope against Lancer by telling him that he doesn't consider him a worthy opponent, making him slip up.

Archer tells Lancer that he also doesn't see him as worthy, causing Lancer to make the mistake that causes his death.

Rider sees Assassin as one, evidenced when he gets pissed off at Caster when Caster appears to have killed the Assassin.

Assassin seems to have developed a bit of this attitude towards Waver after he saved Taiga, keeping Kiritsugu from killing him in the hospital.

After her Shut Up, Hannibal! moment, Rider acknowledges Saber as a worthy foe for her determination and drive.

Despite delaying his rescue of Sakura, Lupin would never hurt a child himself.

Averted with Count Almeida considering that he GLEEFULLY used children in experiments (Some of them he personally raped) back in World War II, among all the other immoral stuff he did in the proceeding years.

Chapter 19 shows the result of his previous chapter's plan, wherein either Archer or Lancer would die from Kayneth's attack on the Tohsaka residence, eliminating one of his two enemies. Lancer was too weak.

Again in Chapter 38. Lupin tricks Saber and Rider into showing up at the Civic Center to fight him and then pits them against each other when he, naturally, doesn't show up. In spite of knowing it's a trap, they go through with it any way because A) Lupin probably is going to try his damnedest to be unreachable so long as both of them still breathe and B) when the hell are either of them going to get a chance like this again, seriously? Saber wins.

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